Nicholas Hoult Photo Shoot - JustJared.com Exclusive!

The 23-year-old English actor stars in the new romantic zombie flick Warm Bodies, which hits theaters everywhere TOMORROW (February 1)!

The film centers on a highly unusual zombie who saves a girl from an attack and then forms a relationship with her that sets in motion a sequence of events that might transform the entire lifeless world.

JJ also sat down with Nicholas to find out whether he will return to Skins, his feelings on shaving his head for Mad Max: Fury Road, and what it is like to kiss the beautiful Teresa Palmer.

Nicholas Hoult – JustJared.com Exclusive Interview

JJ: Do you squirm when you watch yourself on screen?

Nicholas Hoult: “Yeah, I squirm, and it’s always one of those things when you’re like, ‘Oh, I could have done that better, I could have changed that,” or ‘Oh, that worked out better than I expected!’ It’s nice to see everyone else’s work and laugh, it brings back a lot of good memories.”

JJ: Were you into zombies before making Warm Bodies, did you watch The Walking Dead?

NH: “I didn’t watch The Walking Dead. We watched a lot of zombie films in the build up: 28 Days Later, Night of the Living Dead, Evil Dead, Dawn of the Dead – all the deads, basically. It was nice to see where zombies have come from and how they’ve developed. I think we’re kind of taking it to the next bit, a zombie’s point of view.”

JJ: Do you have a favorite scene from the book that didn’t make the movie?

NH: “There’s a lot of stuff that didn’t make it from the book to the movie. In the book, R has a zombie family. A wife and kids and stuff. I really enjoyed reading the book and the internal monologue, and what Isaac has written is fantastic. But also, Jonathan Levine did a really great job adapting it into a screenplay and telling a story that worked in the film.”

JJ:What were you actually eating when you were munching on the human brain?

NH: “The human brain was like a, peach, soft, wet, sponge-y sort of thing, and then bits of grapefruit and stuff. It was really, really rough. And there was one take where I was lashing at Dave Franco’s head, they used a dummy obviously, they couldn’t use his real head unfortunately. But then I remember one take where the dummy’s hair was kind of getting ripped out by my hand, and then I had to pretend to eat the brains obviously. I remember taking out the brains and seeing all the dummy’s hair in the brains, and I was like ugh. I had to get the take so I was like just do it, do it! So I munched on them and ate a lot of fake hair as well. [laughs] It’s great for your digestive system.”

JJ: So first vampires were in, now zombies. What do you think will be the next craze? Are you into sci-fi and that kind of stuff?

NH: “The next one? I don’t know. I seem to do a lot of sci-fi films and experimental adventure films, and strange stories not set in the real world. I’m not sure, they’ve done the vampire thing, the werewolf thing, zombies. It’s fun to go and see those films, it’s a good escapism. It’s fun for me as well to go and play random, strange characters.”

JJ: Is there a random or strange role you’ve been dying to play?

NH: “I’d like to do a proper period piece, go right back to the Victorian era. I’d also like to do a normal story where I don’t have to wear make-up. Warm Bodies, Mad Max, Beast in X-Men, all those films I had to wear a lot of make-up.”

JJ: Which make-up costume took the longest to apply?

NH: “Beast took the longest, that was four hours. My make-up in Mad Max only took two hours. Warm Bodies, surprisingly, was only an hour and a half and the quickest one. And a lot easier to wear, the Beast costume was uncomfortable.”

JJ: What was it like kissing Teresa Palmer?

NH: “Great! It’s never a bad day when you have to go to work and kiss Teresa Palmer. It’s always a bonus. It was a very easy job for me on many levels. Working with her in any respect, she’s so bubbly and fun and easy to be around that it made my scenes with her simple to do for me because I could just watch her, basically. I never had much dialogue to learn, which is also a bonus.”

JJ: How did you ring in 2013?

NH: “I rang in 2013 in Bloomsbury, in London at Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes. We bowled at like one o’clock in the morning, but before that there was a hip-hop thing downstairs and stuff so we were all kind of bouncing around and enjoying that.”

JJ: Do you have any social media accounts?

NH: “I don’t, no. I had Facebook for a while but then it kind of became like a chore, you know? It kind of felt like doing homework after a while, and the people that I hang out with and spend time with I speak to all the time on the phone. I just wasn’t enjoying it, and I was wasting a lot of time on it looking at pictures and stuff. It was fun in that respect. Maybe one day!” [FYI: looks like that day is here! Since this interview, Nicholas has joined both Twitter and Facebook!]

JJ: Are you planning to go back to your Skins family?

NH: “No. I think they are shooting at the moment, and unfortunately I’ve been away so I haven’t been able to.”

JJ: What was your favorite scene to shoot for Mad Max: Fury Road?

NH: “I have some cool scenes driving, and I really love cars and all that. It’s quite macho and good fun. I can’t really give too much away, but it was a cool V8.”

JJ: Do you have a favorite moment off-screen from Mad Max?

NH: “I had my 23rd birthday party in Cape Town, and a few friends on the film rented out a pirate ship for me. So we went on a pirate ship dressed as pirates and I had probably the best birthday.”

JJ: What was it like shooting with Riley Keough?

NH: “She’s fantastic! She’s a really good friend. We had a lot of fun down in Africa, it was a really long time to be down there. I think we were there for seven months, and everyone starts to lose their minds a little bit but she was a good, stable, sane person who is very easy to be around and cool.”

JJ: You shaved your head for Mad Max – what was that like?

NH: “I felt naked at first, and then I kind of got used to it. Now I quite enjoy it! It’s easy to look after.”

JJ: Is it just you and Charlize Theron who shave their heads, or are there more?

NH: “There’s more…”

JJ: Favorite music at the moment?

NH: “Kendrick Lamar. I’ve been listening to his album a lot at the moment.”

JJ: Any specific song?

NH: “Swimming Pools.”

JJ: What was the last movie you saw, and did you enjoy it?

NH: “The last movie I saw was The Hobbit. I did enjoy it, there’s a long way to go on that journey still.”

JJ: What’s next for you?

NH: “I am going to do another film in Africa, an independent film being directed by Jake Paltrow with Michael Shannon and Elle Fanning. Then Jack the Giant Slayer is coming out, so I’ll be doing press for that. Then I think we’re doing another X-Men film.”

have loved him ever since i first saw him in Skins(UK version not the crappy american version).he is hot just like most other british actors

Maria

I know he’s young, but could he possibly be a candidate to play Christian Grey?

moles

Christian Grey… I hope so.

Donte

Nicholas eyes are breathtaking, and he has the sweetest smile!

OdetoFear

I like Nickolas Hoult. He’s a solid actor who’s slowly building up his career like a great actor should. He didn’t just shoot to fame by capitalizing on his looks and staring in movies which he’s not ready for like some actors “cough” Robert Pattinson *cough*

Tommy

Um – why no mention/discussion of/with Nicholas re the Tom Ford movie A SINGLE MAN (2009) with Colin Firth?? He was fantastic in that movie, it’s cinematically beautiful and he received quite a lot of positive reviews???

Fran

Nicholas Hoult is sooo gorgeous and such a diverse actor. I loved him as the sweet, brave dork in About a Boy and was shocked to learn he grew up to be that beautiful blonde from A Single Man. I have since sought out his work, like Skins and the Weather Man. The Warm Bodies movie was great – he is making some interesting choices – I can’t wait to see the Giant Slayer movie and Mad Max and whatever comes next. But if there is another X-Men movie they need to figure out how to get Nicholas out of the blue Beast suit – he is too pretty to cover up that face!